A World of Fragile Things
by Oreth Adablaer
Summary: A year after the defeat of Vegnagun, Rikku decides to visit the Farplane. Since her visit she has been caught up in memories of an old friend, a friend she refuses to forget.
1. Understanding

**A World of Fragile Things**

**By ShatteredOasis**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2 or any of the characters. They are the property of Square-Enix. So don't sue me, 'cause I have no money!

**Note: **Hey and welcome to my fan-fic! It's the first one I've made for X-2. At first I considered putting it under X, but I figured most people who play X-2 would have played X, but not vice versa. Anyway, this fic contains a lot of flashbacks, which will be in italics. This takes place a year after Vegnagun's defeat. It probably won't be any more than five chapters. Okay, please review!

_You used to captivate me_

_by your resonating light,_

_but now i'm bound by the life you left behind._

_Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams;_

_your voice it chased away all the sanity in me._

_-- "My Immortal, Evanescence_

__

**I. Understanding**

There it was. The Farplane. Rikku brushed her long blonde bangs out of her eyes and began to walk in slow, deliberate steps toward the entrance. She approached the young Guado standing before it, who was watching for any signs of trouble that might result from visitors.

"Good morning, Lady Rikku," he said, nodding his head in respect. "Will you be visiting the Farplane?"

She hesitated a moment before replying, "Yes. Thank you." The Guado man nodded again before stepping aside to let her pass. There was a short tunnel that opened onto a series of stone stairs. As she ascended the steps Rikku glanced down over the side. An endless abyss of darkness lurked far below, and her stomach twisted in nervousness inside her.

_Why am I doing this? Al Bhed don't belong in the Farplane, she thought. On her last visit here, she had been too occupied with the business of the Gullwings to think of anything else, or to fear this place. _

But that day, she had felt something. Or... someone. She thought she had heard a voice inside her head, urging her with soft words and telling her not to give up, not to lose hope. And she had thought - though it seemed ridiculous to admit - that she recognized that voice. She had heard it before. But it seemed so long ago...

She was standing in front of the swirling portal. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through. A feeling of icy cold gripped her insides, and she clenched her teeth in fear. But in a second it passed, and she was now standing in the Farplane.

_What will I see? she wondered. She felt somewhat sick. Would the Fayth be angry that an Al Bhed was among them? Would they trap her there among the dead, never to return to the waking world? _

"I can't do this," she whispered to herself, eyes still shut tight. "I'll go back."

"_Rikku..." _

Her breath caught in her throat. Had she imagined that voice? Were hallucinations a normal thing in the Farplane?

"_Don't be afraid..." _

"I can do without creepy disembodied voices, thanks," Rikku said herself, since no one else was there. Or, at least, she didn't think so. _It's so cold here, _she thought, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to warm herself. She had foolishly worn her Thief dressphere today.

"_Open your eyes, Rikku." _

"I _know _I've heard that voice before," she whispered.

"_Look!" _

She obeyed, her eyelids fluttering open. Her mouth dropped open in amazement at the sight before her.

She stood high up on a round stone platform, and below her was what seemed to be a huge valley. Pink fog drifted amongst waterfalls gleaming like crystals. Bright flowers in unnatural colors swayed in a nonexistent breeze. And pyreflies. Billions of them, everywhere she looked. They danced and twirled in the air like luminous ribbons.

"_Welcome." She spun around, her heart beating rapidly. Floating a foot from the edge of the platform was a figure she instantly recognized. Oh Spira, how glad she was to see him. And frightened. He was no longer the man she once knew. Heck, he wasn't even dead. He just... was._

"Aur-," she choked, her throat refusing to work. The ghostly figure of the former guardian was silent, his eyes fixed upon her face. Unmoving, unspeaking. Eyes?

"Hey, you look... different. Like in Jecht's sphere!"Rikku exclaimed, and then clapped a hand to her mouth, looking around uneasily. Would the spirits be angry with her for being loud?

But wait, was this really Auron? She thought she had heard his voice, but she couldn't be sure. Perhaps that was what her heart had wanted, and so her mind made her believe she heard him. The Al Bhed believed that the figures in the Farplane were only images created by the pyreflies. Could this really be Auron's soul?

"Sorry," she said, her voice lower this time. "Um... I feel kinda silly. I mean, who knows if that's even you." The ghost-Auron remained silent.

_He was actually kinda handsome when he was younger, Rikku thought absently. This was how he had looked when he died, so it made sense for him to be this way on the Farplane. _

"Uh, I mean, hello," Rikku said. Spirit or not, she had to say something. "You're probably wondering why I came here. I mean, Al Bhed usually don't, right?" Silence. Rikku sighed, and continued.

"Well, I mean, I... I thought, the last time I came here, that maybe I'd heard your voice. And it kinda got me thinking, you know? I've never come to see you since you... since Yunie sent you."

She paused for a moment to look into his eyes. She thought (or maybe she imagined it) she saw something there, an emotion that she couldn't quite understand. Was it sorrow? Regret?

"Uh, sorry I didn't come sooner. I've been pretty busy, with the Gullwings and everything. You're probably wondering what the Gullwings are. Well, we're a group of spherehunters. Yuna and I are members, and so is a woman named Paine. She reminds me of you a little bit. She doesn't talk much, and she's very serious. And she's got a big sword, like your Katana." Rikku's mind was telling her to stop being foolish and just leave this bizarre place. This ghostly image was just a product of her imagination brought to life by the pyreflies around her. But hadn't he become pyreflies?

"Er... You missed quite a lot while you were here. Shuyin brought this huge machina Vegnagun to life, and... Oh, you, were you there? I thought I heard you that day. You said to me, 'This is your time. You have to defend it.' Well, that's what I did. And what I've been doing. I've been helping Yunie the whole time, because of what you told me after we beat Yu Yevon. Remember?

_With Sin destroyed, Rikku felt as though a weight had been lifted from her heart. She twirled around, giggling crazily._

"_It's over! It's finally over!" she exclaimed, beginning an impromptu jig on the deck of the airship. She caught sight of Auron walking towards her then, and did something surprising even to her. She ran up to him and gave him a giant bear hug, for what reason she didn't know. She felt him tense in surprise, but he did not push her away, either._

_Breathing in the smell of his coat, she said, "I'm so glad Yunie's safe." _

"_I know," Auron replied, and she could feel his voice vibrate beneath her ear. Suddenly she frowned in confusion, pressing her ear harder against his chest._

"_Hey, you - You don't have a heartbeat!" she exclaimed, pulling away. She looked into the older guardian's single russet eye, suddenly afraid. He stared back, his expression soft. Finally he said, "I am Unsent."_

_She stared back, bewildered and shocked._

"_But, but, I... I never knew!" _

"_Neither did anyone else. Only Tidus knows. Soon I must inform everyone else," was his reply. _

"_How long have you been -?"_

"_Dead?" he answered, closing his eyes as though remembering. "Ten years."_

"_How?"_

"_Yunalesca."_

_If his quick responses to her questions were uncharacteristic of the stoic warrior, it was unnoticed by both. Rikku, for her part, was having trouble dealing with this new piece of knowledge. All those months she had known him, and he hadn't given the slightest clue that he was no longer of the living. And Auron had found himself feeling responsible for this bubbly young teenager, just as he felt responsible for Yuna. The reason was unknown, but something about her attitude, though annoying at first, was refreshing. _

_And Rikku had changed how she felt about the old man, too. She didn't know why, but she found herself respecting him and looking up to him. His advice, though seldom given, was always worthwhile. It wasn't until they would become separated forever that she would realize her true feelings._

"_There is something I would like you to have," Auron said, breaking the young Al Bhed from her thoughts. He took the hilt of his Katana from its scabbard against his back and laid it into her hands. She almost dropped it. The weight was formidable, and she wondered at how he could carry it with him everywhere._

"_Y-you're giving this... to me?" she stammered, tracing her hand across the long blade._

"_I cannot bring it with me where I am going. You may do what you wish with it. This was a sword I have had since I was a young boy."_

_Rikku had been comparing her height to the size of the Katana (there wasn't much difference), when she snapped her eyes back on him._

"'_Where you're going?'" she repeated quizzically. Auron nodded once, his face firm._

"_I cannot stay here any longer. My duty is fulfilled."_

"_What about Yunie?! What about us - Tidus and me? Just because we beat Sin doesn't mean we won't need you anymore!" she nearly shouted._

"_Rikku, I am dead. I do not belong here. I must ask Yuna to send me. I have no other choice," he replied, his voice expressionless. Rikku suddenly felt tears well up in her eyes. She sniffed and blinked furiously. She wouldn't let herself cry in front of him. She didn't want him to think of her as an immature child. She would have to let him go._

"_So, what about Yunie?" she muttered, staring at her feet._

"_She will need a friend. Stay with her. Give her a shoulder to cry on," Auron replied, placing a gloved hand on her arm. She glanced up at him quickly._

"_Why would she -?" He cut her off._

"_Promise me you will be there for her, as I cannot."_

"_I promise."_

_After the sending was performed, and after Tidus had gone, Rikku found her cabin on the airship, curled up on her bed, and cried._

**Note: Well it's pretty short so far. But I promise it'll get better! Please review. Your support is appreciated.**


	2. Don't Turn Away

**A World of Fragile Things**

**By ShatteredOasis**

_I'm frightened by what i see,_

_but somehow i know_

_that there's much more to come._

_Immobilized by my fear,_

_and soon to be blinded by tears._

_I can stop the pain_

_if i will it all away._

_--"Whisper", Evanescence_

**II. Don't Turn Away**

After Rikku finished, she said, "See? I've kept my promise. Yuna's been safe, and now Tidus is with her. Yeah, he showed up a little while after we beat Vegnagun. It was really weird, but he's not a dream anymore." She paused. If Tidus could come back... No. She wouldn't allow herself to think about it.

"A couple of years ago I visited Kimahri at Mt. Gagazet. He gave me a sphere he found. The person inside looked like Tidus, but he was really a guy named Shuyin, who had lived in the real Zanarkand and died during the Machina War. We searched all over for more spheres. During Yuna's Calm, two groups formed called New Yevon and the Youth League, and they were fighting all the time. But Yunie held a concert in the Thunder Plains, and they began to resolve their differences. That's when I started to think of you again...

"_Oh no... We're here."_

_Rikku stopped at the end of the tunnel that led from Guadosalam. Her green eyes were fixed on the scene in front of her. Thick black clouds obscured the sky over the Thunder Plains, but bolts of white lightning could be seen striking the tall towers and the ground. Rain poured down in sheets, plastering her bangs to her face. Thunder crashed, and lightning struck not too far from the group of guardians and the summoner. _

_Rikku jumped, and she stared up at the sky as though it had grown a scary face and would come down to gobble her up at any moment._

"_How are we supposed to cross that?" Tidus asked doubtfully._

Thank you, Tidus! _Rikku thought silently. _

"_See the lightning rod towers?" Lulu replied. "The lightning is drawn to them...hopefully." _What is that supposed to mean, 'hopefully?'

"_We head north, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?" Wakka added. _

_Rikku didn't hear Lulu's next statement, because another bolt of lightning struck the ground, and she let out a cry of surprise. Everyone turned to face her, concern apparent on most of their faces. _

"_I-I think I left something in Guadosalam," she stammered, hoping in vain that they would turn back with her, and she would have at least a few more minutes of peace._

"_No turning back now, ya?" Wakka said, clearly unaware that her words were merely an excuse. _

"_Nice knowing you," Auron said. She turned to face him, glaring up at him. _Meanie! Can't he give me a break for once? _she thought. He returned her gaze, his eye challenging._

"_Okay, okay! I'll come!" she said finally. Pretending to ignore the flashes of light above, the young Al Bhed girl strode past the legendary guardian with her head held high. _I'll show him, _she thought._

_They continued across the Plains, moving as quickly as they could from one tower to the next. Rikku was usually the first one to arrive and the last to leave, sprinting ahead of the others in a state of near panic. She tried to shut the noise of the booming sky overhead and the white streaks of lightning from her mind, but it proved hopeless._

_To make things worse, lightning fiends also roamed the Plains: Pupae, Elementals, and Bolt Drakes, among others. Lulu, Auron, and Wakka had been put in the front line, for which Rikku was grateful. She didn't want the other guardians to think she was a coward for not wanting to fight the fiends. _

_As they continued to traverse across the Thunder Plains, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the lightning rod tower right overhead._

"_Whoa! That was a close one!" Wakka said, laughing. _

_As if the brontophobic Al Bhed's nerves weren't already near to the breaking point, the lightning strike and Wakka's careless demeanor caused her to snap. Her feet felt glued to the spot and she hunched down, her hands clasped so tightly together that the knuckles were white. _

"_Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh," she muttered, shutting her eyes tightly, her ears attuned to every distant rumble of thunder._

"_Huh? What's wrong?" _

_But Rikku didn't heed Wakka's return. She suddenly broke into a maddened fit of giggles. By now everyone in the party had stopped and were watching her with concern._

"'_Heh heh heh..." Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "You're giving me the creeps!"_

_BOOM!_

"_Eep!" Rikku squealed and dived to the ground, cowering in a tight ball. The thunder boomed again, and she scrambled over to Tidus, latching onto his leg in a death grip._

"_I wanna go home!" she cried. "I hate lightning! I hate thunder!" She cracked open an eye and, for a moment thinking she was hallucinating, saw the bright lights of a Travel Agency just a few yards away. "Let's go rest over there! Please?"_

"_This storm never stops. Better to cross quickly," was Auron's reply. Rikku's antics were an itch on his back that he couldn't seem to reach, and he was growing impatient._

"_I know but... Just for a second?" She met his single eye, putting her every effort into making her face as pleading as possible. Auron returned the gaze for a moment before turning around and walking towards the Travel Agency. _Yes!_ she thought, but as they approached she realized they were just going to pass by it. _

"_Pretty please?" she asked, stopping in front of the door. The group moved on, ignoring her. As Tidus passed she grabbed him by the arm._

"_Tidus, my friend, my buddy ol' pal, you won't leave me, will you?" she said anxiously. The blonde blitzer stared at her for a few seconds, before glancing at the group's retreating backs._

"_Sorry, Rikku. I've gotta go with Yuna," he said, before dashing off to join them._

Sayhea, _she thought, and then said louder, "I'm really, really, REALLY scared of lightning! Please stop? Pretty please?"_

_Again, they ignored her. _

"_I'm too young to die!" she screamed, on the verge of madness. Auron's jaw twitched as he listened to her. If she was this scared of a little storm, what state would she be in when they reached Zanarkand?_

"_You're mean... cruel! Your mothers would be ashamed of you!" _

Just ignore her, _he thought. _She'll catch up eventually. Either that, or the Al Bhed in the Agency can take her home.

"_Are you having fun doing this to me?" Her last accusation seemed to be directed at him. He stopped, heaving a great sigh._

"_Fine, we rest," he said to the group. Yuna appeared relieved. Then, louder, so Rikku could hear him, "She's worse than the storm."_

_As she followed everyone into the Travel Agency, Rikku felt as though being struck by lightning wouldn't have made her feel worse than what Auron had said._

"Hey, guess what?" Rikku said, as her mind returned to the present. "I'm not afraid of lightning anymore! I had my brother drop me off at the Thunder Plains, and I stayed there for a week!" She put her hands on her hips, pleased with herself. But Ghost-Auron just stared back at her. "Yep, no more brontophobia for me! I guess I have you to thank. I just kept thinking what you would say if you saw me being a scaredy-cat."

Pyreflies swirled over the Al Bhed girl's head, attracted to the warmth of human blood. They sent a chill down her spine. How much longer could she stay here?

"You probably thought I was so immature that day when we crossed the Thunder Plains. I mean, you just wanted the best for Yunie, and I was whining like a little baby. But you can't really blame me, you know. I had a bad childhood experience! And what about you being afraid of the Farplane!" She pointed her finger at his chest. Then she realized she was starting a one-sided argument with a bunch of pyreflies, and felt stupid again.

_Why does this always happen? _she wondered. _Why does he always manage to make me feel dumb and, and... incompetent! Even when he hasn't said anything! Or maybe it's my fault. Maybe all of this was my fault..._

**Note: So is this chapter better? Please review! Come on, don't be shy! I'll give you a cookie.**


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